previously published on Asian Movie Pulse
How
much our lives can get destroyed just by plain coincidence or the
particularly bad string of coincidences? It is an ages-long
philosophical question that has been treated in movies practically
from the beginning. Japanese auteur Koji Fukada, however, does
not take the usual path to tell this kind of story. It is not a
mystery or a thriller, it is a psychological drama focused on one
singular character in the midst of the turmoil. "A Girl Missing"
premiered in Locarno and we caught it at Viennale.
The
character here is Ichiko (Mariko Tsutsui, who worked before
with Fukada in his best-known film Harmonium three years ago), whom
we meet as Risa Uchida, a widow looking for a change in her life. She
says that directly to her hairdresser Kazumichi (Ikematsu Sosuke),
explaining that she chose him because of his last name he shares with
her late husband. The two of them commence a friendly relationship
that might turn into something more romantic, but there is something
off about it. It is not the age difference, it is Risa / Ichiko, her
habits on spying on neighbouring apartment from her, mildly put,
minimalist home, and the secret she harbours.
In
her previous life, Ichiko was a nurse in a hospital, with a
doctor-fiancé (Mitsuro Fukikoshi) and a side job of taking
care of an elderly artist Toko Oishi (Hisako Ookata) at her
home, where she bonded with her grand-daughters, older Motoko (Mikako
Ichikawa) and younger Saki (Miyu Ogawa). It might not be a
glamorous life, but she enjoyed it. Well, until the moment when Saki
went missing for several days and came back. It turns out she was
abducted by Ichiko's nephew (Ren Sudo) and her "part"was
introducing the two during a purely random encounter. Soon enough,
the blood-thirsty tabloids and sensationalist TV reporters start
breathing on her neck, and she loses the trust of Oishi family and
her co-workers, essentially denying her right to work...
The
first thing that comes to the eye is how the two separate timelines,
told parallelly, are hard to distinguish from one another. They both
seem drab in colour, emotion and set design, and only when Fukada
masterfully interconnects them at the same place (the city zoo) and
with the same story too unusual to be spoiled here happening at the
very moment in one timeline and resurfacing as a memory in the other,
we get the whole picture. Both the design and the elaborate narrative
device serve the purpose very well in portraying Ichiko's state of
mind. In retrospective, the director does the same throughout the
film, carefully planting the leads and the red herrings, but with no
intention to score some easy points.
The
trouble is, however, that the peeling of layers and the mystery of
Ichiko's intentions in the latter timeline lacks some deeper
insights. Simply, she experienced some bad luck, she made some bad
decisions, but she remained passive at crucial situations, never even
trying to explain herself. So the revenge she tries to serve cold is
ethically dubious because the targets she aims for are not those who
primarily made her life hell at first place, though they have also
made their decisions that were unjust.
Mariko
Tsutsui, however, is a pure joy to watch. Her character is enigmatic,
but in a seemingly plain, realistic way thanks to her interpretation.
He never misses a tone and convincingly holds the whole film
together. The rest of the cast complement her with their performances
and that proves to be crucial for the life-like quality of the film.
Paired with Koji Fukada's interesting storytelling and strictly
directorial solutions, it makes "A Girl Missing" a
compulsory watch for the audience interested in Japanese arthouse
cinema.
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